The present invention relates to an automatic detecting and prewarning system for medicine instiller, in which a drop carrier is pivotally connected to a lever to locate in a flow-indicating cylinder below a medicine dropper of the medicine instiller. Medicine drops fall from the medicine dropper at a preset speed or flow to impact on and reciprocatingly sway the drop carrier and thereby intermittently cut off detecting means of the system as a control signal to alarm means thereof. When an abnormal instilling speed or flow continues for a preset time, the alarm means is automatically enabled to emit warnings.
Medicine instillation is frequently used in medical treatments. Conventionally, a medicine liquid being instilled is visually examined by nursing personnel for normal instillation speed and remained volume thereof. Currently, there are also electronic instruments developed for controlling dosage, time, and flow of instilled medicine liquid. However, these electronic instruments usually have a large volume and are expensive in price, and are therefore normally employed by medical organizations only in special medicine liquids that require particularly attention to the instilling time and flow thereof.
There is also developed a sensing needle connected to a sensing circuit and alarm means for directly piercing into a medicine bag or bottle containing a medicine liquid to be instilled. Since the sensing needle must be in contact with the medicine liquid to work, it is not disposable to meet sanitary requirements.
An invention entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Monitoring the Level of the Contents in a Containerxe2x80x9d was laid open by European Patent Office under Publication No. EP370604A1 on May 30, 1990. However, the disclosed monitor and method for monitoring the level of the contents in a container is not highly convenient for use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,337,631 B1 granted to the same applicant of the present invention discloses an alarm system that is automatically enabled to produce warnings when an instilled medicine liquid is about used up. However, further improvements could still be made to this patented invention.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide an automatic detecting and prewarning system for medicine instiller. The system includes a clamp for easily clamping on a flow-indicating cylinder of the medicine instiller, detecting means of an electronic sensor type mounted on the clamp, alarm means connected to the detecting means via a conductor, and a drop carrier pivotally connected to a lever to locate in the flow-indicating cylinder below a medicine dropper. After a fixed number of drops or flow per minute is set for the medicine instiller and input to the alarm means, medicine drops fallen from the medicine dropper one by one impact on and reciprocatingly sway the drop carrier to intermittently cut off the detecting means as a control signal to the alarm means. When an abnormal number of drops or flow per minute continues for a preset time, which might be caused by a compressed and bent tube of the medicine instiller, an empty medicine container, etc., the alarm means is automatically enabled to emit warnings.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic detecting and prewarning system for medicine instiller, with which a fixed number of drops or flow per minute of the medicine instiller can be detected and calculated for inputting to alarm means of the system, so that a time point at which the instilled medicine liquid is about used up may be determined in advance with the help of currently available electronic controlling technologies. This function enables nursing personnel to watch several medicine instillers at the same time to achieve effective control and management of patient wards and high efficient nursing.